Welcome to “A Day in the Life!” where you can get to know our residents and see into their daily life.

PL-1 Jessica Kroner

Jessica, tell us about yourself – where did you grow up and where did you go to school?

I grew up in Rockland County, NY which is just north of New York City. I am an only child and the youngest on my dad's side of the family but the oldest on my mom's side. My family is relatively small so I grew up with my cousins as my surrogate siblings and we are all still close to this day! I went to Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA for undergrad where I majored in Biology and minored in Spanish. After graduation, I came back to the New York area for my gap years and medical school. In my gap years, I took time to take care of my health and was a nanny for a family with a child who has Type 1 Diabetes. After this, I completed a one-year master's degree in biological and physical sciences before starting medical school.

Why did you choose our residency program?

UConn/Connecticut Children's was and is my top residency program! I wanted to train here for many reasons, some of which are the traditional factors you hear such as the location being close to home, but what really sold me was the people. I did a 4th year visiting rotation here and loved it! Everyone I interacted with was so welcoming, knowledgeable, and friendly. I believe it is so important to feel supported, especially during such a crucial time of your training. I had a gut feeling that this would be the place for me and can already say it feels like home.

Why did you want to be a pediatrician?

I wanted to be a pediatrician for two reasons: 1) I love working with kids and partnering with parents to take the best care possible of their most precious possession; And 2) I love that we have the unique ability to manage long term chronic conditions as well as acute care concerns. There is instant gratification in making a patient feel better after strep throat or an ear infection, but we also are using anticipatory guidance and teaching lifelong habits for maintaining their health/diseases.

What have you liked best about your intern year at Connecticut Children's so far?

So far, I have loved getting to know my co-residents and faculty! While I am from nearby, I have not spent much time in Connecticut and have been enjoying getting to know my new home more. Lastly, I have a strong passion for medical education and have greatly enjoyed working with 3rd year medical students and alongside with the sub-interns. I appreciated all the knowledge residents have passed on to me and am thrilled to be able to pay it forward to the rising generation of physicians!

What has been your favorite experience as a resident?

My favorite experience as a resident has been seeing pathologies and diseases that I previously had only read about in textbooks. It is amazing to see all the things you have spent years studying come to life!

What are you considering for your career after residency?
After residency, I am considering going into General Pediatrics as an outpatient provider. However, I love genetics and hope to have a focus in my practice on managing kids with genetic conditions. Now that genetic testing is becoming more readily available and cost effective, I hope to be able to save my patients and their families the expensive and stressful burden of going to big name/academic centers to get evaluated for genetic conditions. A lot of the time these patients sent for evaluation do not meet the qualifications for testing or have results that require very minimal monitoring. I would love to help alleviate the burden on families and only send those who need the specialized care. With that said, I am keeping an open mind and gaining many elective experiences so we shall see!!

What do you enjoy doing outside of the hospital?

I enjoy spending time with my friends and family as much as I possibly can! I also love to travel and will go on any trip, even if its short and especially if its in the Fall. Other things I enjoy doing is reading fiction and binge watching TV with my boyfriend. However, my most favorite is working on jigsaw puzzles that will be glued and framed to give as gifts or hang in my home!